The Heart That's Meant to Love You [COMPLETED]

Chapter 73: Explanation

Naomi arrived on campus too early, but that's what one got when they wanted to avoid their mother at all costs. If she hadn't sneaked out of the apartment, Naomi might have found herself in yet another argument. She couldn't handle two arguments that close together.

Everything had gone wrong at some point, and now Naomi didn't know how to fix it. What did one do when the mother they thought loved them turned out to be manipulative and controlling? Who did she turn to?

With a sigh, Naomi stopped beside the wishing fountain and dug a coin out of her bag. If only truth and clarity could come from something so trivial. Naomi knew better. The coin was but a psychosomatic tool that allowed Naomi to feel a little relief. It wouldn't work in the long haul.

Naomi would have to solve her own problems, and that frightened her more than anything else.

In the long run, Naomi would rather spend her time in her own head than in the problems around her. Ms. Rowe was her mother, and Naomi wanted to respect that, but she didn't know if she could anymore. Not when her mother wouldn't listen to Naomi's most desperate pleas for change.

"Good morning," Claire's voice, far less chipper than usual, came from behind Naomi.

Naomi turned, expecting the bright and eccentric Claire that she had befriended. Instead, she found a somber version of the blunt woman she had come to know. Claire hadn't even taken time to do her makeup.

A few months ago, Naomi would never have noticed something so trivial about anyone. A few months ago, Naomi wouldn't have considered befriending Claire, either. These final days in college had opened Naomi's eyes to things she never expected, had shown her a side of herself that she had never known existed. Naomi didn't want that to end. Yet, there she stood, waiting for her final art class, her last vestige of normalcy.

Did she really want to leave all that behind?

"You don't look very well," Naomi noted.

Claire nodded her head, just once. "There's some stuff that I need to tell you. Can we talk?"

The timbre of Claire's question hit Naomi in a way that turned her gut and poked at the anxiety within her. But, Claire was her friend, so Naomi gave a nod.

Claire made a beeline to the side of the fountain, as if her very life depended on it. There, she eased herself to sit on the lip of the stone structure. One black-fingernailed  hand patted the spot beside her.

"You might want to sit down for this."

Claire had never sounded this serious since Naomi met her. Therefore, Naomi took her own seat against the stone.

"What's wrong?" Naomi asked, sensing the tension building.

Claire blew out a deep breath. "It's about Oliver."

"Oliver?" Naomi racked her brain, trying to decipher what Claire could possibly have to say. "You only met him once."

A humorless laugh fell from Claire's lips. "That's not entirely true."

"It isn't?" Naomi silently berated herself. Asking stupid questions never got her anywhere, so why did she keep rehashing everything that Claire said?

"The truth is..." Claire picked at the edge of one of her nails. "I knew him way before I ever met you."

The news hit Naomi with the force of a tidal wave. She never would have guessed. Oliver never acted like he knew Claire, and Claire had introduced herself to Oliver in the dessert cafe. As if she had never met him before.

"Why didn't either of you say something?"

"I can tell you the whole story, but I need you to not get mad, okay?" Claire reached out to grab one of Naomi's hands with both of her own. "You're my first real friend and I don't want to risk that over someone like Olly."